Prepare to drop
by PenofDOOMSDAY
Summary: Rookie was going to drop into hell. But he wasn't going to die.
1. Chapter 1

"We are dropping into Hell, troopers! Time to grow a pair!" Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck said over the COM. Rookie heard beeping noises, and saw other pods drop down. The beeping grew higher pitched until it reached its highest note and let the pod go.

Rookie involuntarily jerked his head up, and then put it down after a few seconds. He looked at his screens on his right and left. The one on the left showed Dare, while the other showed Buck. Both had their visors half polarized. Rookie looked around his pod some more, then his eyes rested on a picture on the left side.

It was a very small picture, about a few centimeters wide. It showed a beautiful woman, in her twenties, smiling at the camera. She had chocolate brown hair and bright green eyes. Rookie momentarily took his left hand off the inverted handlebar and brushed his fingers against the picture.

Zoe.

His fiancée. Rookie had promised her that once he came back, they were going to get married. Rookie would never break his promise.

"_Lance Corporal James Daniels. Please don't get yourself killed."_

That was her parting words.

James sighed, and went back to gripping the handlebars and praying to God.

Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck had Rookie on his screen. He could see whatever he did. He saw him touch a photo of someone on his left side of the pod. He could see him in deep thought, he could hear him sigh. He knew what it meant.

A loved one.

Buck knew the feeling. Oh, did he know the feeling. Not now, however, as his loved one was in a pod right next to his.

He just said to Rookie over the COM, "Stay focused, Rookie."

"Stay focused, Rookie," James had heard over the COM, Buck was talking to him.

Rookie looked to his screen and nodded.

Now was one of those times, it paid to be the strong silent type.

James looked out the window. He saw UNSC frigates that had been torn apart. Some parts of them were still glowing a bright orange.

"_I take it back, Navy got its butt kicked," _James heard Romeo say over the COM.

"_Hey Romeo. Remember when I told you to shut your mouth?" _Buck asked

"_Yeah."_

"_Consider that a standing order"_

That shut Romeo up. James frankly didn't like him. Hitting him a sniper rifle.

It still hurt.

James's vision was clouded with…. Clouds. He realized. Silently cursing himself for forgetting that they were going to pass through clouds, Rookie rested his head on the walls of the pod.

"_Captain! Fifteen klicks off deck." _Buck said to Dare.

Rookie perked up.

"_Stand by to adjust trajectory… On my mark." _Dare said nonchalantly.

"_What?! What did she just say?!" _Dutch said over the radio.

"_Mark!"_

Everyone's pod veered off course. Way off course.

"_We're way off course!" _Mickey said, as if reading his mind.

"_We're heading exactly where I need to go."_

"_But we're gonna miss that Carrier!"_

Suddenly, a stream of energy moved across the Carrier. Like energy shields putting themselves back into place after getting damaged.

"_Radiation!" _Dutch said.

"_The Covenant just set off a nuke?" _Mickey asked.

James saw a little dot in the corner of the window, and automatically hit the magnification on his faceplate.

It was _In Amber Clad_.

"_No. The carrier's going to jump! It's a slipspace rupture! You need to-" _Dare couldn't finish her sentence, as the Carrier made a slipspace jump.

_Inside _New Mombasa.

And _In Amber Clad _was going to follow it.

"Son of a bit-"

Mickey's pod slammed into James's, making it spiral out of control.

He could only imagine what kind of tricks Mickey's pod was doing.

Oh boy.

James gripped his handlebar as tight as he could, causing his knuckles to turn white. He felt like he needed to vomit.

And for the first time, his helmet was cursed.

Rookie's vision started to turn black. Rookie didn't fight it. It would be dumb to be awake while this thing crashed into New Mombasa.

But Rookie wasn't going to die. Oh no.

Lance Corporal James "Rookie" Daniels was not going to die.

Not today.

* * *

**There's going to be a second chapter. Also, if anyone didn't get it (I'm no going to judge you, caveman) Lance Corporal James Daniels is Rookie. So I alternate between calling him Rookie and James.**

**Sorry if that confused you.  
**


	2. The halfway journey

_**Dees-claim-er: I don't own Rookie, Brutes, Gage Yevgenny, and all that Halo shtuff that is Halo shtuff.**_

**_Except for Zoe, I own her. Wow, that sounded weird._

* * *

**

Rookie's pod spiraled out of control, with and unconscious Rookie in it. The pod landed straight and true into the Occupied City Centre.

Rookie was still in the pod, unconscious as ever. The pod's alarm blared for a second, flickered, and then stopped.

Rookie, still unconscious, remembered some past things in life while still in deep sleep.

"_Sir, I can't just leave you here…"_

The Battle of New Jerusalem. Right before he was transferred to Buck's squad.

Gage Yevgenny.

"_I didn't agree to you joining the ODSTs so you could just die. Lance Corporal James Daniels, please don't get yourself killed."_

Zoe.

As if that was a wake-up call to Rookie, he slowly woke up.

Oh god, his head hurt. Rookie hung his head down, and when that didn't work, he rested it on the back of the pod. He opened his eyes one by one.

After blinking away the blurriness, Rookie looked around the pod. It was cracked and dented everywhere, most screens weren't working, and the ones that were, were filled with static.

Two Phantoms passed dangerously by. Rookie held his breath, hoping to not get caught.

He didn't.

Intent on getting out of his pod where he wasn't vulnerable, Rookie activated his explosive charges on the door of the pod.

It hissed, and then blew open violently. It also dropped down fifteen feet, and hit a police car.

Rookie whistled. That would be quite a drop.

He first grabbed his M6S pistol from the racks, and put it in the appropriate holster. He then tugged the silenced SMG from its resting place, and held it firmly.

He gritted his teeth, and jumped.

Rookie threw his SMG mid-air. Not on purpose, of course. He wasn't sure how much of a beating the SMG could take.

Trying to focus on the right thoughts at the right time, Rookie prepared to tuck and roll.

He landed with one knee to the ground, and in a fraction of a second, rolled over.

It worked. He didn't get hurt much, but it still hurt. Rookie grunted a bit, and leaned on a wall nearby.

He quickly collected himself. He needed to be ready, should there be any enemy showing up.

He spotted his SMG to his left, and scooped it up. Other than a few scratches, it was fine. That was nice.

Rookie suddenly heard a voice from beside him, only it didn't sound human, it sounded mechanical, like an A.I.

"_Need immediate medical assistance? Choose Optican! Fast, accurate diagnosis, or your money back._" It seemed to say.

There was a screen with two sockets jutting out from the bottom of it. In the socket, Rookie found a can. It wrote 'Optican' in big black letters. Rookie picked up the can, and inspected the back.

** area around the wound before applying gel.**

** gel by pressing button below.**

** gel into wounded area for thirty seconds.**

** will heal most wounds within five minutes of application.**

** wound is not healed within specified time seek medical help.**

Ah, Rookie was briefed on this.

He stored it in his rucksack, intent on using it later, when he needed it.

Rookie continued onwards to the right, though he wasn't sure why. Instinct, he guessed.

There was minimal lighting in this area, though that was an understatement. He activated his night vision, it wasn't really night vision, it just made things silhouettes seem more prominent.

He heard more voices, and this time, it wasn't mechanical, instead more deep and gruff.

There was a road leading up to a door on the left, and it went uphill, so Rookie decided to take that way.

He looked down, and saw three Grunts and a Brute, they seemed to be patrolling the area, and the Brute was barking orders to Grunts, who seemed absolutely petrified.

Rookie vaulted down, and stealthily walked behind the back Grunt. It wasn't looking at the back, so it was a piece of cake for Rookie.

He grabbed hold of its head, and twisted it at an impossible angle. It didn't make a sound. Rookie retreated back into the shadows.

He saw one of the Grunts look behind, and jumped at seeing his comrade dead. He immediately reported it to The Brute.

"E-e-Excellency, sir. Nipip has fallen!" It said to him in a panicked voice.

The Brute sniffed the air, and said, "I smell a vermin here"

Rookie took this as his opening, and whipped out his M6S pistol.

It had a 2x magnification scope, and practically no recoil, so it was the ideal medium range weapon.

Rookie fired one round into each Grunt's head; they fell down without a sound. Blue blood was slowly pooling out of each one's head.

The Brute yelled out. He fired his Spiker at the general direction of the Rookie. None of them hit, and Rookie burst out of the shadows, his silenced SMG whittling away at the Brute's shield.

Every single one of the bullets hit, and with one clip, the Brute was face first on the ground, lifeless.

Rookie reloaded and kicked the Brute once just to make sure. He then headed onwards to the right.

There was a large courtyard in the middle of the road, and the road seemed to circle around it. Rookie walked directly across the courtyard.

Right in front of him were two barricades he could easily vault over. And on the side walk, three Grunts, seemingly alone. Maybe they were going to investigate the noise the Brute made while getting killed, he didn't know. He would never know, nor did he want to, and shot each Grunt calmly in the head with his M6S.

One of them sported two plasma grenades on its belt, and Rookie policed it from him.

"I don't think you'll need this anymore." Rookie said to the dead Grunt, and not waiting for the answer that was never going to come, he kicked the Grunt.

Rookie heard another sound, coming from his east. He ran back to the courtyard, and hid behind a very short wall.

He took a peek over the wall, and saw The Brute kneeling over the dead Grunts. The Brute was wielding a Carbine, and Rookie knew that meant trouble. Carbines were the Covenant equivalent of the UNSC Battle Rifle.

Rookie ducked behind the wall again, and reloaded his M6S pistol. As he did that, he realized he had a Plasma Grenade in one of his pockets.

Rookie smiled. He knew he had a good arm. So he braced himself, and vaulted over the wall.

The Brute heard him coming, and shot its Carbine at him. It only fired three shots, but it was somewhat accurate.

One of the shots hit his left arm, his good arm.

Rookie cried out in pain, but still primed a Plasma Grenade, and threw it with his right hand.

The Grenade sailed in the air, and got stuck on the Brute's helmet. The Brute tried to take it off, but failed.

The Grenade exploded, taking half The Brute's head with it. Rookie took some satisfaction in the kill. One less Covie bastard to shoot, and more bullets to save.

Rookie paused to police the Brute's equipment. Nothing much of use, only a Carbine, and even that had little ammo. Rookie took a moment to scan for enemies. Finding none, he jogged back to the courtyard, and sat down.

He inspected his left arm. He'd gotten shot just below the elbow. And the bullet… or whatever the Carbine ammunition used went straight through the flesh. Luckily, it didn't shoot through the bone, only the flesh.

Rookie took the Optican, and thumbed the button for the gel. Once it was on his fingers, he rubbed it around his wound.

He then slapped a bandage on. Content that he was okay for now, Rookie pressed on forward.

He passed by a giant truck that was tipped over on its side. Cars were littered all round in the streets, and Rookie wondered if he could take one, it would make finding his squad much easier.

He then heard a Brute call out, "Vermin! Fire!"

Rookie looked behind, there were two brutes and eight Grunts, Rookie assumed that equaled to two squads.

Green bolts started to pass by him. Rookie rolled behind a car, and prepared his M6S.

Once there was a momentary cease fire, Rookie ran straight out of cover, firing his pistol at each Grunt's head.

He fired his whole clip, and soon all the Grunts were down on the ground, motionless. Rookie reloaded, and waited for the Brutes to come smashing.

They did.

Thankfully, all they had were Spikers. That made Rookie's job easier.

Rookie put his SMG on his thigh, courtesy of his magnetic holster, scooped up a Grunt's Plasma Pistol, and pulled back the trigger.

The Green bolt grew and grew inside the 'U' shaped barrel. It then was contained there, not going to grow any more.

Rookie took careful aim at one Brute, not easy considering he had a convulsing weapon in his hand.

He let go of the trigger.

The reaction was instantaneous. The Green blob of Plasma followed one of the Brutes, and it hit The Brute.

The Brute's shield failed, and Rookie took that opportunity to shred the Brute with his Silenced SMG.

Rookie dropped the Plasma Pistol, and then quickly rolled back behind the car.

He heard the other Brute let out a deafening roar. It sprinted towards Rookie's cover.

Rookie reloaded in a blink of an eye, and jumped out of cover. The Brute dropped his weapon, and slammed a fist towards him.

Rookie jumped away, letting The Brute punch thin air. He used his SMG to drop The Brute's shield.

The Brute was now furious. He ran towards Rookie, ignoring everything else. Rookie, determined not to die, charged towards the Brute.

The Brute was surprised, nobody dared challenge Brutes. He didn't let this stop him, of course.

Rookie tried to run faster, pumping his legs. He came about a foot away from the Brute in 2 seconds. Rookie, not having a knife, struck the Brute with the butt of his SMG.

That obviously didn't faze the Brute; he thrust his fist forwards, and Rookie sidestepped. It wasn't fast enough, however. The Brute hit his left arm, and Rookie stumbled to the right.

Judging from the pain that he'd felt many times before, Rookie had his left shoulder dislocated. This was not a good day.

Rookie collected himself, and saw the Brute running towards him.

Rookie brought his SMG up, and used the last of his clip to down The Brute. It faceplanted onto the floor without another sound.

Rookie surveyed the area, there was a rectangular courtyard. It was actually the front of a building.

They had walls, of course.

Rookie jogged the one of the walls. He dropped all his weapons, gritted his teeth, faced forwards, so his back was facing the wall, and slammed his shoulder.

With a sickening _pop!_ His shoulder was back in place. Rookie lightly screamed in pain.

This was just not his day.

Rookie picked his weapons back up. He looked at the ammo counter on his HUD.

His SMG had two more clips left, and his pistol had three.

That would do for now.

He continued onwards inside the building.

He just hoped he'd find some clues about his squad.

* * *

_**Abrupt ending! Yes, this is the second chapter for this story I named: 'Prepare to drop' Now with more words! But is still lacking on the words. Because I'm unable to type a large amount of words in one chapter.**_

_**Well, at least I didn't abruptly cut off in the middle of my sentence like in The Sopran-**_


End file.
